I was wondering if any of you vacationed in DR before? If so, what do you recommend seeing? Is it safe to be traveling around, or is just better to stay in whatever resort you chose and only do those excursions that are sponsored by that resort? Any specific places to avoid? Any things you recommend is a must see/do?

I've never been there, but I'm planning on going for a week just to relax and have a change of scenery. Thanks!

the locals are pretty nice there. I stayed at occidental grand punta cana. been there twice. The only thing I would avoid is really poor parts because seeing the way that some people live will make you feel so bad. For the most part we stayed at the resort unless we went on a tour or did activities

Excellence Punta Cana. I got married there in June. It's a 5 star all inclusive resort, that has a bunch of free activities, and plenty of entertainment (free shows in the lounge area every night on stage, live band etc.)

Excellence Punta Cana. I got married there in June. It's a 5 star all inclusive resort, that has a bunch of free activities, and plenty of entertainment (free shows in the lounge area every night on stage, live band etc.)

It doesn't show much of the resort, but you can see how beautiful the beach area is, from unbias, untouched, non-Photo-Shopped pictures that you'll find on every resorts website lol.

I had an AMAZING time there... Gonna go back next year!

I stayed there for my honeymoon in '07 too and the place was awesome. The only thing is we couldn't go in the water because it was rough, but the pools made up for that.
It's definitely the best place I've been to out of DR, Jamaica, and Aruba.

I went there this year and stayed at the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. I had lots of fun but preferred Aruba and Jamaica over DR. Aruba had much more activities and a better beach, and jamaica had that very cool culture that everyone loves. In DR we stayed at the resort for most of the trip, and just left for the nightclubs and this catamaran trip:

I was there for 7 days back in early August.. Stayed at Dreams Punta Cana (not my choice, I was there with a wedding party).

Fucking hated it.

Literally 95+F, humidity 80+%, UV index was an 8 or 9 every day. The AC in the rooms couldn't keep up and unfortunatly 90% of the resort was open air. Eating breakfast every day at 7AM you could feel the sweat running down your back. So in other words supremely uncomfortable. Pools were like bath water, so there was literally no escape from the heat and discomfort.

We had clothes hanging up in our room trying to dry them out and even after 6 days they were just as wet as we went to pack them. After we returned home we ended up having to toss a bunch of the stuff because after 4 washings in hot water with with vinegar and oxyclean, you could still smell the mildew.

No less than 8-10 of our group (approx. 1/3) got the trots to some degree even though none of us drank the tap water. So you ended up in your room pissing water for 48 hours of your vacation.

Resort was very mediocre.. The people I was with were more interested in quantity than quality and the place was full of rednecks from the US. Probably the most Harley Davidson t-shirts I've seen in one place outside of Milwaukee.

The only good thing I experienced was the Cigar factory tour... I picked up a few boxes of Don Lucas (local OEM producer for Monticristo, etc.) sticks and friggin' love them.

Sure a lot of my complaints have to deal with the oppressive heat, etc. and my personal comfort, but I think it's worth mentioning since being outside is something that you are expected to do when you go to a place like this. A few of the people I was with really liked it, but I don't think I'd ever go back. I'd happily spend 10x the money and go to Hawaii.

So in summary, I can't in good conscience recommend the island. Even if you experience 20% of what I did, it'll ruin your trip. But if that's really where you want to go, don't look for the best deal.. price yourself out of the riff-raff I had to deal with. Bring Ammodium and lots and lots of dry clothes. Make sure you check all the sites (expedia/travelocity/trip advisor, etc) for reviews before you book anything... oh, and check the weather